Two men have been sentenced to six years in jail for their parts in a sophisticated operation to steal an ATM containing over €230,000, from a bank in Co Kerry.
Christopher Murney (24), Chapel Hill Road, Mayobridge, Co Down, and Thomas Wilson (29), Sea Patrick Villas, Banbridge, Co Down, pleaded guilty last month at Tralee Circuit Criminal Court to charges relating to the theft of the ATM in Castleisland last year.
The operation, which took place at 5am on November 13th, was meticulously planned by the raiders who stole an excavator, valued at €100,000, and conducted a practice run, weeks in advance of the heist.
However, the bucket of the excavator was too small to lift the ATM onto the back of a pick-up truck and the men had to abandon it and flee the scene.
Gardaí spotted them in a pick-up truck 30 minutes later, still wearing balaclavas. A chase ensued and the truck eventually crashed in a farm yard. The culprits then tried escape on foot, and were eventually arrested
At Limerick Circuit Court today, Judge Carroll Moran acknowledged that Wilson and Murney were not behind the planning of the raid, and were “foot soldiers who were to get a small share of the proceeds”.
In mitigation, the men have no previous convictions he said, adding that they come from respectable families and financial pressure had induced them to carry out the crime.
The judge described the organisers as sinister people who put the accused men under pressure to carry out the offence. He said they had continued to come under pressure after their arrests, and Wilson’s mother’s car had been burnt out outside their home.
Judge Moran imposed a six-year sentence on both accused, which he backdated to include the time they have already served in prison while awaiting sentence.
The judge recommended that they serve their sentences in a prison nearer to their homes in Co Down.